Chapter 7

Just as Chahaya was about to speak, Bang! Someone pushed open the half-closed rooftop door and rushed in. It was a man holding a heavy black plastic bag in both hands.

The man, eyes wide open, held a bag from which blood dripped.

"Seo-eun!"

The man called out, his voice filled with both joy and reproach.

‘We’ll talk later.’

Chahaya only moved her lips and pulled up her mask.

***

“Oh, Seo-eun, why are you so thin?”

Abdulraziz moved Seo-eun’s face around with his rough hands. His ring and little fingers were still blunt, as two segments had been cut off.

“I lived alone.”

Although he didn’t ask if she had a child, Seo-eun replied jokingly.

“Yeah, right, I did well too, didn’t I?”

Abdulraziz was a worker from Uzbekistan.

He had worked in the Daegu Seo-gu Industrial Complex for five years before awakening as a Manseong. Abdulraziz learned Korean from various factory managers, so he mixed dialects from different regions.

“Hahaha, I really missed this. Even though we’re talking about different things, we can still communicate. Seo-eun, you asked why I’m so thin, right?”

“Really? Am I thinner?”

Seo-eun rubbed her cheek towards Gangsan.

Abdulraziz spoke Korean quite well, but when Seo-eun misunderstood him, he never corrected her. This often led to them talking past each other.

When Seo-eun asked, “What do you mean by that, Abdul?” he would usually say, “Right, it’s fine,” and move on. At first, Seo-eun wondered why he did that, but after living together, she could guess the reason.

If she had learned Uzbek dialects and an Uzbek person asked her to explain in standard language, she would probably be speechless.

Phrases like “Why are you so thin?” and “Why are you so thin?” might as well be in different languages.

“Let’s eat. The meat of a dead pig looks good too.”

Abdulraziz had found a mutant pig near the intersection and brought back a bag full of meat he had butchered himself. He seemed to be in charge of cooking, as he brought two portable burners to the rooftop and placed them on either side, cooking the pig.

The others sat on plastic milk cartons around the burners, waiting for the meat to cook. Yuchan and Handon-hee were still missing, but they didn’t wait for those who couldn’t eat.

“Our Abdulraziz, wherever he goes, he won’t let the kids go hungry.”

“Right. In hell, I’m the best.”

Abdulraziz, who had done butchering in Uzbekistan, rolled up his sleeves. He came to Korea to earn money, but as a Manseong, he no longer needed it.

Especially after the Ministry of the Interior and Safety established the ‘Mutant Disaster Control Center,’ it became even more unnecessary.

The center offered rewards based on the danger level of mutants, and in half a year, Abdulraziz earned more than ten times what he had saved working in the factory. Despite this, Abdulraziz couldn’t return to his hometown because he was a Manseong.

Manseongs and mutants only occurred in South Korea.

Research was actively conducted, but the reason they only appeared in the country remained unknown. Foreign countries treated them like a virus and revoked the passport functions of Korean Manseongs. Of course, there were cases where unregistered Manseongs traveled abroad, but mutants or Manseongs didn’t spread like a virus.

“Seo-eun, I was really hurt. Back then, the guild was so suffocating, but I couldn’t hold it in and left.”

“But, hyung, is it okay to eat the pig?”

Seo-eun, deliberately ignoring Abdulraziz’s scolding, sucked on a wooden chopstick.

“Sure. It’s fine to eat the pig.”

Abdulraziz nodded. He was a localized Muslim and had never been seen praying in Seoul.

“But, Seo-eun, now that I think about it, even though it’s tough, living like this isn’t bad. Maybe we were too pampered before.”

Gangsan cut the meat with scissors.

When they lived in Seoul, a 20-story building was entirely owned by the guild. The in-house cafeteria was the most meticulously designed, with various restaurants like meat shops, bars, and fine dining establishments.

Funded by guild money, only guild members could use it, leading to criticism of wasteful spending. Despite external criticism, they never improved it. The reason was the private lives of the guild members, who were also called Manseongs.

“Honestly, how arrogant were the Manseongs? In Korea, they said we were struck by God’s hammer, and they wanted to kill us all.”

“Are you drunk? You’re angry after reflecting?”

Seo-eun laughed, finding it absurd. Gangsan also chuckled, easing the tension.

“Seo-eun, eat more. Here, Chahaya.”

Abdulraziz offered a disposable plate to Chahaya, who was staring at the grill. The plate was piled high with meat.

“Chahaya.”

Chahaya, lost in thought, finally took the plate.

“What are you thinking about?”

Chahaya finally took off her mask while the meat was cooking.

“Thank you, hyung.”

“Sure thing.”

The affectionate Abdulraziz often nagged at Chahaya. When asked why, he couldn’t fully explain.

‘I lived in a village in Samarkand where there was no electricity at night. At night, wild dogs roamed. Once, a wild dog’s eyes met mine through the window, and it was so insolent. How could an animal look at a human like that? Those dogs would surely bite you to death, but when the sun came up, they wagged their tails.’

‘Hyung, what does that have to do with being harsh to Chahaya?’

‘Right, that’s true.’

It was a conversation that went off on a tangent. Whenever Abdulraziz couldn’t communicate, he would say, “Right, that’s true,” spouting positive words. Perhaps it was a social skill he learned at the factory.

“Thanks to you, I’m eating meat for the first time in a while.”

The meat had a slight gamey smell, but it was nothing compared to mushrooms. Seo-eun sprinkled a lot of salt to mask the smell. As Chahaya chewed repeatedly, the mask hanging from her jaw was noticeable.

“But why are you wearing a mask?”

It seemed odd since she didn’t do this when they lived in Seoul.

“Because the smell of mutants is disgusting.”

“Suddenly?”

“Suddenly.”

Seo-eun wondered if Chahaya had developed some strange phenomenon when they came to hell. Although she said the smell of mutants was disgusting, she ate the cooked meat well. Seo-eun also disliked raw meat but liked cooked meat, so she didn’t find it particularly strange.

“So, Seo-eun, are you coming back as our deputy guild leader?”

Gangsan, with a snip, cut the uncooked meat.

“Why do we need a deputy guild leader with only five members left?”

“Are you so hungry you can’t count? Including you, Seo-eun, there are six of us.”

“Six or five, I’ve been out of the deputy position for a long time and have no intention of returning.”

“Then leave it vacant.”

Chahaya answered decisively.

“I believe you won’t disappear after eating the meat. Matahari cried all night looking for her mother.”

“I get it, stop it. And technically, I’m the father, right?”

“Don’t blame Seo-eun. We were wrong, so we should apologize.”

“We?”

Chahaya suddenly became serious, her gaze sharp on Gangsan.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I get it! It’s not us, it’s just me who was wrong. I’ll apologize again.”

Gangsan bowed deeply. Seo-eun decided to completely erase the remaining resentment. If she held a grudge, she would only be called narrow-minded.

She had been cold to Gangsan upon their reunion because she considered him a close friend. The betrayal felt more profound because she trusted him.

“But you said you ate Nam-dong, so why did Nam-seo come?”

Gangsan, surprised by Seo-eun’s question, looked at Chahaya. Chahaya was sipping a canned drink.

“Now that I think about it, Chahaya, why did you suggest we go there?”

Gangsan also frowned, not knowing the reason.

“I heard there was a good searcher there, so I went to look for them and ended up capturing Seo-eun alive.”

“Right, that was a good move by Chahaya.”

“Huh? That’s what it was?”

“You never told Gangsan, right?”

“What do you mean? You weren’t just looking for me?”

“...”

It was a joke, but the lack of response was confusing. She couldn’t tell if it was due to overthinking or if it was the truth.

“Ah!”

Unable to bear the silence, Seo-eun stood up, remembering something.

“Wait a moment.”

“Seo-eun, where are you going?”

“To get my bag from the office.”

Before anyone could stop her, Seo-eun hurried down the stairs. It was a five-story building, so it didn’t take long to reach the first floor. When she returned with her bag, Chahaya was gone. He was standing by the rooftop railing, looking down. Thinking he might be waiting for Yuchan or Handon-hee, she didn’t mind and only took out a taphatong.

“Hyung, why are you taking out a taphatong while eating?”

“Shut up. It’s garlic sprouts and mugwort. They’re clean, so you can eat them right away.”

Chahaya approached, looking slightly surprised, as if asking if she really ate such things.

“These are enoki mushrooms.”

“Wow, you even picked mushrooms?”

Gangsan looked more disgusted than impressed. Seo-eun, trying to prevent any new resentment, put the taphatong down and told them to help themselves. They briefly shared their recent experiences, but since they had only been apart for about three months and Seo-eun had no social interactions, there wasn’t much to say. She didn’t feel like lamenting how hard she had lived.

“Have you all used the gate?”

Ultimately, the conversation circled back to the main topic.